This isn't necessarily a moving to JP post rather than a what do I do now that I'm here, so not sure if this fits here, but I came to Tokyo a few months with the plan to do some language school and then enroll at Tokyo Institute of Technology (now Institute of Science Tokyo) as a PhD student studying Computer Architecture/Engineering (basically CS). At this point I've already been accepted and am just waiting to start the enrollment procedures for a start this fall. However, I've recently been rethinking whether or not I should even go.
This probably wasn't a great plan to begin with, but I chose the PhD path here as a way to refresh my field knowledge and potentially give me some extra points for job hunting/PR. If that failed, at least I could go back the the States and say that I have a PhD now. However, I'm not particularly passionate about my field or my currently proposed research topic (which by the way is currently utter garbage and I have no idea how the interviewers even let me in with it). I also don't think I particularly like research, but since I have literally zero experience with it that might change if I give it a try. That said, I'm still worried about how much I'll like it and whether or not I'll be able to finish my PhD (in a reasonable amount of time).
Recently, as I've been attending language school, I've started to feel like I don't want to bother with the PhD anymore and just give working here a shot since that's the end goal anyways. I already have a M.S. degree from the US, and about ~1 year of usable experience in tech, but the one thing I'm sorely missing is the Japanese, of which I'd say I'm nearing a solid N3. I really want to reach at least N2, but I think it will take at least another 4-6 months to do that, and while Tokyo Tech does offer Japanese courses, I'm unsure of their quality, and how much time I'll be able to dedicate to my language studies (the actual PhD can be done entirely in English btw).
So I've been trying to decide whether to just stay at my language school and improve my Japanese while simultaneously job hunting, or to go ahead and enroll at Tokyo Tech and hope that I can improve my Japanese there while learning how to research (and maybe? getting a PhD in ~3+ years). Personally, I think ideally I would defer my enrollment by 1 semester, but unfortunately I don't think I can do that. I can also drop out of Tokyo Tech at any time, but I feel like that's kind of a waste of everyone's time. Also, I should mention that I am 26M, with my current visa lasting until next year, so by the time I finished my PhD I would be at least 29yrs (if I only take 3 years which is a serious IF ~ even my professor thinks 3 years in quite rare/hard). Any advice would be appreciated; bonus point if you have graduate school experience here or have gone to TiT.
TLDR: Trying to decide between doing a PhD that I'm not very confident, or continuing Japanese language school while hunting for jobs, and potentially letting my skills get a bit more rusty.
Also I know I posted this elsewhere, but I'd like to see if I can get a range of opinions.
by Wonderful-Bet-3262